April 26, 2011
Indiana, Opinions

Commissioners willing to break social contract

Written by ROBERT BROOKS, For the Journal & Courier, www.jconline.com 20 April 2011Written by ROBERT BROOKS, For the Journal & Courier, www.jconline.com 20 April 2011

As each of us are born, whether we like it or not, we enter into something called a social contract.

Thomas Hobbes explained in Leviathan that we, by human nature, are constantly in a “war of every man against every man.” Through this fear we naturally seek peace by establishing a social contract.

In our day and age, to accomplish this peace, we’ve created a government. Government’s job is not to rule us, but for us to rule it. Through elections, we elect the most competent individual to represent us for our safety and security. In Tippecanoe County, have we elected the right commissioners to perform that job? And if not, what are the consequences of electing individuals who do not seek to give us safety and security?

For nearly a year now, a group of citizens has worked to protect violations of property rights and health threats as the wind turbine energy has rolled into our county.

Two factions have developed: Those for the wind turbines who expect some sort of compensation, and those who are against it, with safety and peace with their properties. As both have their own special interests at heart, they look toward a just government to safely find a balance.

We hoped and expected that these individuals, who both factions have been a part of electing, could find a middle ground for our community, to keep peace which is required in continuing the social contract.

Instead, we have found, they are unwilling to listen to professional advice on the placements of these wind turbine towers and the sound that will flood neighboring abutters.

Experts, such as Angelo Campanella, Richard R. James, Robert E. Novak of Purdue University, have expressed concern for citizens of this county because of the ordinance the commissioners have pieced together.

Other organizations such as our government’s EPA and the World Health Organization have set healthy night-time sounds as being below 45 decibels, yet the commissioners refused to listen.

Sworn testimonies of misery and sickness have also been put in the public record from other communities where these behemoths have created a divide with its people. Yet these viewpoints have not been given attention or concern by our elected politicians.

If the health and safety of our community is being paid no mind by our commissioners, how will the people in the county react when they feel their social contract is not being honored?

What will the consequences of two men’s decisions be in a community with a total population of more than 150,000 individuals?

Can our community expect any decisions by these men in the future to be healthy and safe for our communities if they refuse to listen to the experts?

Brooks is a New Richmond resident and an advocate against Tippecanoe County’s current wind farm ordinance.